


Sweetheart

by Gimmeran21



Series: Sweetheart [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Brain Damage, Brain Injury, Disability, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Physical Disability, Unconditional Love, mental disability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-24 18:30:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20363113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gimmeran21/pseuds/Gimmeran21
Summary: Sequel to Give Me a Hug by rose_malmaison.Further events after the shooting which left Tony with hypoxic-anoxic brain injury. How Tony and Jethro cope with the hand they’ve been dealt.





	Sweetheart

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Give Me a Hug](https://archiveofourown.org/works/878596) by [rose_malmaison](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_malmaison/pseuds/rose_malmaison). 

> With many thanks to rose_malmaison for her original idea and for being willing to beta this work for me.

Gibbs looked down at his lover, who was snuffling in his sleep. When he was feeling sentimental (Leroy Jethro Gibbs feeling sentimental!) he would just take a minute to drink in the sight of his beautiful lover currently curled round the pillow that replaced him.

He had never told Tony about those moments because Tony wouldn’t understand. Not because of his brain injury but because deep down he still didn’t think that he was worth the trouble. Sure he loved and trusted Gibbs with all his heart and had certainly shown the loving part last night. Gibbs smiled at a very happy memory. But Tony had too often been taught by his parents that he wasn’t worth the bother and that lesson had stayed with him even to the present.

Gibbs looked back on the past two years with a mixture of sadness and satisfaction. He still struggled with Tony’s prognosis at times. How he missed the old Tony, the knowing glances, the witty banter, the double entendres and movie references and his quickfire speech. 

But he did have his old Tony in many ways. His sweet nature still shone through and he tried to help others even though he needed help himself. He still had that smile a mile wide, the kindness, the bravery and perseverance, just in a different context. He was always interested in what was going on around him, the ‘nosy’ nickname very apt.

But gone was the time when he could work smarter not harder. When Tony was making Gibbs’ coffee he sang the instructions to himself, a look of fierce concentration on his face, having to take his time or he would forget the proper sequence.

**Tony’s Father**

** **

When Tony had been shot and it was feared that Tony might die and Gibbs was spending all his time by Tony’s bedside, he’d asked McGee to contact Tony’s waste of space father but the phone numbers he had tried had been disconnected and the emails he’d sent had pinged back as undeliverable. Gibbs could have asked McGee to use his skill at hacking to try to track him down but by then Gibbs had had enough and didn’t bother asking. DiNozzo Senior was flaky and unreliable except in his unreliability. 

When it became certain that Tony would live although with hypoxic-anoxic brain injury leaving him with various deficits, Gibbs decided after all to ask McGee to use his skills to track down DiNozzo Senior. 

“Mr DiNozzo? This is Gibbs.”

“How did you get this number?”

“Not really relevant at the moment. I’m phoning to let you know that Tony’s been seriously injured.”

“How seriously? Do I need to come? I’m rather busy at the moment.”

Barely able to even bother to be polite, Gibbs said, “He nearly died and he’s brain injured.”

“But he’s getting better? I’m not very good around sick people.”

“Not even your son?” Gibbs said incredulously.

“I don’t think I’d be any help.”

“With that attitude, I shouldn’t bother” and he had slammed down the phone.

Why should he be surprised? The man had been neglectful of his son to the point of abuse what with leaving him alone for days in a hotel room in Hawaii and then disowning him when he was twelve. No wonder Tony often thought he was not worth consideration and was the first to put his life in danger to save others.

But once Tony, miraculously, started getting better he’d also started to ask after his father.

“Dad - want Dad.”

“Honey, he’s not here.”

“Wh-ere?”

“I’ll find him,” hoping this time Tony’s father would actually step up to the plate.

So Gibbs contacted Tony’s father again. 

“Senior, he’s asking for you and he’s getting upset because you haven’t been to see him. Just this once you will act like a father to him or there will be consequences.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Yup, and I can deliver, so at least phone him even if you can’t bear to be in the same room as your brave son. You know he got the injury saving someone’s life. Because of that he can’t walk yet or talk well so I don’t want any snide comments about his speech. If you say one word out of turn I’ll deliver on my earlier promise.”

“Put like that I can scarcely refuse such an offer. I’ll be in my office all day.”

“Right. I’ll phone you again at 2pm and if you’re not there…”

“I’ll be there.”

“Right.”

“Sweetheart, your dad –.“

“Coming?”

"No, he’s a long way away but he’s going to phone you in a couple of hours.” Although that wasn’t strictly true. Gibbs didn’t trust that bastard father of Tony’s to phone despite the threats so he would phone him.

Tony could still tell the time and kept looking at the clock but because he got tired so quickly Gibbs had had to wake him up to talk to his father.

“Junior, how are you?”

“Better. When come?”

“Well I’m very busy now but I’m sending you some candy and fruit and I’ll come by at Thanksgiving. Keep well” and then he’d finished the call.

Still the same selfish uncaring bastard thought Gibbs watching the effect that the conversation had had on Tony.

“Thanksgiving? Dad’s coming then.”

Gibbs could hardly bear to hear the hope and excitement in Tony’s voice. The chances that his father would actually come unless Gibbs threatened him again were nil. He might on the other hand actually send him the promised candy and fruit. Gibbs would allow two days and if it didn’t come within that time he’d arrange for some to be delivered. He couldn’t let his lover be disappointed yet again.

The rest of the day Tony was full of how he had talked to his father who was so busy, during which time Gibbs tried not to explode and say exactly what he thought of his apology for a father.

Needless to say the promised candy and flowers did not arrive within two days so Gibbs arranged for them to be sent to Tony who was so pleased and kept saying how nice it was that his father had sent them.

About four months after the shooting Tony had progressed from barely being able to sit up in bed, to using a wheelchair and then a walker. At Bethesda they’d gone through all Tony’s proposed therapies and their expected outcomes with Gibbs. This had included Tony progressing from the walker to walking unaided. That had seemed like a pipe dream to Gibbs. He knew the amount of effort it took for Tony just to move around the house and stairs even leaning heavily on him and using the handrails. This had been after several months of intensive therapy. Tony’s balance had still been off and his muscles weak. Not to mention his speech was slow and he forgot his words if someone interrupted him.

Still after the six weeks in a sort of brain boot camp he had moved from a wheelchair to a walker and had been using it round the ward and day-room and Gibbs had to be content with these small signs of progress. The staff reminded him that such progress was huge and to learn to celebrate the fact with Tony. Baby steps had taken on a whole new meaning for Gibbs.

Then one day he had brought Tony to Bethesda for his 10am appointment and gone to get his usual coffee only to find on his return the staff looking for Tony.

“What the hell’s happened?”

“Well one minute he was doing his exercises and the next …”

And then Tony had appeared in the doorway. Gibbs almost pounced on him in his worry.

“Tony, are you alright? What happened? Where have you been?”

Then realising that he wasn’t giving Tony a chance to reply he stopped.

Tony looked bemused. “I went to see Sam, he’s lonely.”

The physical therapist whispered to Gibbs, “He’s in the next ward, no family.”

What would you do with him? This lovely, kind man.

“Tony, that’s nice but we were worried about you.”

“Oh.”

“Come on, let’s get you started on your exercises.”

Then there was the time when he’d got up at 6am as usual, done his round of exercises leaving Tony asleep and was just putting together the makings for breakfast when Tony had shouted down.

“J-Jethro, come here!”

Frightened for Tony’s sake he had dropped everything and run up the stairs to be greeted by a fully clothed Tony who had a wide grin on his face.

“What’s the matter?”

And then the penny had dropped, a fully clothed Tony! Since Tony’s injury he hadn’t been able to master sleeves and Gibbs had resigned himself to having to help Tony get dressed each day.

“I wanted to make you proud of me.”

Gibbs had leaned forward and give Tony a smacking kiss on the lips at which Tony flinched slightly.

“What was that for?”

“Love, I am so proud of you and I do so love you.”

Tony’s smile had got even wider.

**Disability Tests and Board**

“Tony, we’re going out tomorrow.”

“’Kay.”

“We’re going to Bethesda.”

“But I just went there for my physical therapy”

“Yes, I know but this is different. They’re going to do some tests tomorrow and the next day and then next week ask you some questions.”

Tony stiffened and fear came into his eyes.

“I d-don’t like tests, needles, hurts” and his voice quavered.

“I know” said Gibbs thinking back to all the tests Tony had been subjected to since his shooting.

“I’ll be with you for some of them.”

“Do I have to go?”

“’Fraid you do my love. You know you get something called a pension?”

“But only old people get that. I’m not old.”

“No, but you get a pension because you worked for a long time.”

“Oh.”

“Now they want to give you more money because you were shot.”

“OK.”

Gibbs watched Tony trying to grasp the concept and hoped he would have a light bulb moment. Then Tony smiled and Gibbs knew it had happened.

Unfortunately although Vance had ensured that Tony had been given a full retirement pension he didn’t have the power to decide on his disability pay so they’d had to go to Bethesda where Tony had undergone a battery of tests to determine his cognitive and physical abilities as part of the disability claim. A bit like putting a horse in an auction through its paces Gibbs thought bitterly.

Then the Disability Pensions Board were going to interview Tony by himself but with a responsible adult present to represent Tony’s interests.

First came the home visit. The Board had arranged for a Mrs Miller, the responsible adult, to come to the house to see what adjustments had had to be made to help Tony with his difficulties in standing and walking and to see how Tony moved around the house. 

Gibbs had explained carefully to Tony what was happening and that Mrs Miller wanted to talk to him before the Board’s assessment interview the next week and that Gibbs would not be allowed in with Tony but Mrs Miller would be there to support Tony.

Mrs Miller (“call me Karen”) turned out to be a petite blonde with sparkling blue eyes and a great sense of humour. Luckily she and Tony had hit it off immediately, helped by the fact that Tony could still appreciate a pretty woman. 

While Tony was occupied with playing Tetris on his phone Gibbs asked to talk to Karen privately.

“Sure, shoot.”

“I need you to know some things about Tony before the interview. He’ll try and try his best but he still gets tired very easily and will need a break after about an hour. You can tell when he’s getting tired because his concentration starts to go and then his speech will slur and he’ll confuse his words but he’ll still keep trying despite that.”

“Got it. Don’t worry. I’ll look after Tony.”

“Bye, Tony, see you next week.”

Gibbs was relieved. Tony had been upset when he realised Gibbs couldn’t be at the interview with him or even answer most of the questions for him and Jethro had spent a long time talking him down. Gibbs had explained he would be in the waiting-room with him until the interview.

“They’re just going to ask you questions about what you do at home.”

“Can’t you tell them?”

“No, they want you to tell them.”

“’Right.”

Tony had insisted on wearing his armour of a suit and tie. They had given away most of those sort of clothes as no longer belonging to his new life so now he mainly wore jeans or sweatpants but he needed the comfort for what he thought of as an ordeal. Gibbs had privately agreed with him.

So they’d spent a long time in the waiting-room, Gibbs holding Tony’s hand all the time and trying to reassure him.

"Mr Anthony DiNozzo?”

“Y-yes but my name’s Tony.”

“Please come this way” and the man had taken Tony’s arm to support him and walked him into the next room before he could say good-bye to Gibbs.

The man seated Tony in front of a desk behind which sat two other men.

“Where’s Karen?”

“I’m afraid she couldn’t make it today. I’m sure we’ll manage just fine without her. Now, Tony, we just want to ask you a few questions and then we’ll be done.”

"Alight.”

“What time do you get up?”

“0800 hours when Jethro calls me.”

“I understand you live with Mr. Gibbs.”

“Jethro, yes.”

“What do you do once you’re up?”

“Shower, shave.”

“Does anyone help you?”

“Only if the shower is funny.”

“What do you mean?”

“When the knobs turn funny.”

“Then what?”

“I get dressed and now I don’t need Jethro to help me with sleeves anymore,” Tony smiled his mile-wide smile at them.

“Who makes your meals?”

“Jethro.”

“Can you cook?”

“I can make mac ‘n’ cheese and scrambled eggs with Jethro. And I make Jethro’s coffee,” again the smile.

“So Mr Gibbs cooks most of your meals?”

“Yes.”

And so the interrogation went on for another hour until Tony was spent.

His replies had begun to slow and he had started to mix up his words despite himself.

“Would you mind speaking up?”

“Can’t think, can-can I stop now? Jethro can help.”

“You rely on him a lot don’t you.”

“Yes, he helps me all the time and I love him.”

“Oh…” The panel exchanged meaningful looks.

Gibbs was getting restive and anxious. He could hear the murmur of voices in the next room, Tony’s distinctive voice among them, but couldn’t hear Karen’s. What was happening? Over an hour had passed and they should be taking a break. Why wasn’t Karen insisting on it? Suddenly he could hear Tony’s voice, loud and upset.

“Can I see Jethro, please, please,” his voice unconsciously getting louder and more distressed until the door burst open and Gibbs barrelled in.

“What the hell are you doing to Tony?”

And he knelt down beside him and hugged him gently trying to rub away the tears and then turned to the panel, keeping his voice low and even to avoid distressing Tony further.

“I said what the hell are you doing to Tony?”

“Only doing our job Mr Gibbs. You are well aware we have a duty to assess each case on its merits.”

“Tony isn’t a _case_, he’s a human being who has become disabled because he was putting his life on the line, which I suspect none of you has ever done. Now if you want any more questions answering I suggest you ask me at a time of my choosing. I have to look after Tony,” looking back at his lover who was still shaking and crying.

“Yes, we have noticed how close you are. Are you sure that’s totally healthy given Tony’s vulnerable condition?”

”What the hell do you mean? He’s my husband for God’s sake! And before you say anything he did not marry me under duress. We were married two years ago and that was before his injury. Surely you checked all this before? And anyway it’s not your place to make judgements about our relationship, just to assess the level of his disability.”

”Yes, well…”

So Gibbs gently lifted his husband up, all the while trying to soothe him but Tony was still shaking and muttering, “S-sorry, s-sorry.”

“I’ll be contacting my lawyer about this and how you have dealt with a vulnerable person who was left with no one to help him in this interview as I see that Mrs Miller is not in the room.”

Gibbs supported Tony to the car and got him settled as much as possible and then phoned Ducky.

“Ducky, Jethro here. Can you come round? It’s about Tony, it’s urgent.” Cutting off Ducky’s exclamations he finished the call and drove home all the while trying to comfort Tony. 

"Right, Anthony, dear boy, how are you feeling now?”

”What did I do wrong?” and he started shaking again.

“Nothing, nothing at all. Don’t worry, I’ll give you something to help you sleep.”

As Tony slept, Gibbs and Ducky talked.

Gibbs explained the situation: his husband in a trying interview which had left him distressed and without anyone there to support him. Not to mention the loaded comments about Tony’s and his relationship.

“You’ll be putting in a complaint of course.”

“Damn straight. You saw how upset he was. I haven’t seen him this bad for weeks. And he was doin’ so well. Look Duck, I know you think I don’t get it that Tony will never be the same. Sure I’m still havin’ trouble accepting it but I’m getting there and he was getting more settled and he’s even learned how to completely dress himself – he’s so proud.”

Aware his voice was close to cracking, Gibbs reverted to his usual taciturn self.

Ducky contented himself with a gentle squeeze of Gibbs’ shoulder.

“Well, I’ll leave you both. I’ll come by tomorrow but Anthony should sleep for the rest of the day and hopefully through the night. You try to get some rest.”

Once Ducky had gone, Gibbs went to check on Tony who was sleeping with tear tracks clearly visible on his face.

Gibbs’ rage came to the fore again. How dare those fools upset Tony – a man who had risked his life time and again to protect others. Since his injury he had struggled to be the best he could be but had retained his essentially sweet nature. And now Gibbs felt that Tony’s progress such as it was had been put back months.

From the comments he had made in the car and before he went to sleep Tony hadn’t fully understood what had happened that morning, just that he thought he had done something wrong that he needed to put right. He’d been so broken and confused. It was going to take everyone’s efforts to try to repair the damage that had been done in that short while.

Gibbs was relieved that he hadn’t been carrying his gun that morning otherwise he might have found himself standing over several dead bodies. 

Sighing, Gibbs got ready for bed and joined Tony, taking him in his arms and saying “Come here my sweetheart” and tried to sleep despite the anger that was making him restless.

As he expected when Tony woke the next morning he was still very upset.

“But Jethro what did I do wrong? I-I told them the-the things.”

He was stammering badly and trembling despite Gibbs holding him and trying to soothe him.

“Are they going to send me away? Will you send me away ‘cause I didn’t answer the questions right?”

Gibbs looked at his husband, shocked to the core. Had it really come to this? Tony’s fragile sense of self worth and his trust in Jethro shot to pieces in a just a couple of hours.

How on earth was he going to make this right?

“My dearest love I will never leave you. You know when we got married?”

Tony nodded and his face brightened as he remembered the happiest day of his life. That was one memory that had stuck.

“We said we would never leave each other.” Gibbs wasn’t going to remind Tony of the one inescapable exception to that promise.

“That’s still true, no one’s going to take you away from me and I’ll never send you away – it’s like we’re superglued together.”

Tony laughed. He certainly remembered how he’d superglued Tim’s keyboard and the handle of his mug.

“That’s what I want to see, that lovely smile. Ducky’s coming over soon to see you and you can tell him about sleeves.”

Karen had phoned the next day. “Gibbs, Karen here. I’m so sorry about what happened at the interview. I’ve only just heard from the notetaker who was so shocked that he reached out to me. I had a migraine and there was no way I could have represented Tony. I let the board know and of course assumed they’d postpone the interview and reschedule. I’m prepared to testify at any disciplinary hearing. How is Tony?”

“Still very upset. Not doin’ at all well.”

“I’m so sorry. Tell him I phoned. Would it be alright if I came round some time to talk to him again? He’s a real sweetheart.”

“That he is. Sure come round but leave it for a few days until he’s less upset.”

**Consequences**

“What do you want to do today?”

“Dunno.”

“Do you want to go out?”

Then Gibbs stopped himself. He had to turn that into “Let’s go out” otherwise Tony would just sit there looking out the window listlessly, his eyes dull. And then he would follow Gibbs slowly to the car using his walker.

“Come on baby,” Gibbs pleaded “Look at that red Ferrari passing us.”

“Not your b-baby. I’m, I’m a grown man even though I’m stupid.”

“You’re not stupid.”

“They thought I was.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I couldn’t answer the questions prop, prop.”

Tony gave up the struggle as speech became more and more difficult for him.

“Ssh my love, they were the stupid ones.”

Gibbs was almost beside himself with rage again. His gorgeous sweetheart who had been trying so hard was on the verge of giving up because of those incompetent fools. He’d talked to Ducky and Brad and they could only advise him to keep persevering and keep telling and showing Tony how much he loved him. But that wasn’t working. Tony even moved away whenever Gibbs tried to touch him.

As the days went by, Tony continued to pull away from him and hadn’t even wanted to sleep in the same bed as Jethro, trying to insist on sleeping on the couch instead but at this Jethro had put his foot down. He wasn’t having Tony sleeping on the couch that could make him even more uncomfortable than he already was.

In the end, Gibbs made up the bed in the guest-room, leaving the master to Tony. He was hardly sleeping for worry and anyway kept going into the master bedroom to check on his husband who was also not sleeping well judging by the sounds he was making but whenever Jethro tried to comfort him Tony would struggle against his touch even in his sleep.

Tony’s masks were starting to come down again. Since the shooting it had been as though Tony’s layers of obfuscation had been stripped away showing his true personality for everyone to see but now when Gibbs asked Tony how he was the only reply he got was “fine” or “I’m alright.” He was becoming more and more withdrawn and silent.

To make up for Tony’s silence, Gibbs started to talk more hoping to draw his lover out but although he sometimes talked himself hoarse he was still met with the bare minimum of words until one day Tony said, “ I don’t want to live here anymore, I want a” and then with a great exhalation,” a divorce.”

Gibbs rocked back on his heels, surely Tony as he was now didn’t understand what the word divorce meant and anyway how could it have come to this after all they had been through together and how much love they’d shared.

“Tony why would you say that? We love each other. Do you know what it means to be divorced?”

“You think I’m stupid as well. I know the word divorce. We would stop being married. I wouldn’t live here. You think I’m stupid and anyway you have to do everything for me. I’m useless, I can’t help you or earn money or, or.”

Tony ran out of breath and Gibbs saw the silent tears pouring down his face. Gibbs realised he couldn’t use reasoned logical arguments with Tony in this state. He couldn’t ask Tony where he planned to live if he moved out or point out that he had Power of Attorney for Tony and was the one that had the legal power to decide where Tony could or couldn’t live. No, it was how Tony was feeling, not how he was thinking that was the important thing as Gibbs embarked on one of the most vital speeches of his life.

He gently took Tony’s hands who this time allowed him to because he was too exhausted to stop him.

“My dear, dear love, you think you’re useless eh? Do you know that you keep me alive? If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have a life. Sure I’d keep breathing but I wouldn’t really be living. You make me so happy. I love you and I love helping you.”

Gibbs stopped. It was so important that Tony was taking in what he was saying.

“But the man said –. “

“Listen Tony, sweetheart, please listen. This is really important. Those men deserve to be shot for what they’ve made you think about yourself. I know you can’t forget how they made you feel but please, please remember how much I love you and need you. Sure you need me but I need you at least as much.”

Tony wiped his face and the tears started to dry up.

“Really?”

“Oh my dear love, come here” and Gibbs gently drew his husband to him as Tony started to relax into his arms.

That night Gibbs slept in their bed but Tony kept to the edge of the bed. He was still trying to ask for help as little as possible and acting ashamed when he had to.

Tony had gone for his shower while Gibbs made breakfast but after twenty five minutes he was getting anxious. Tony loved his food too much to waste time on a long shower before a meal. So Gibbs ran to the bathroom only to see Tony sitting on the bottom of the shower as the water poured over him while he shivered and gasped. When Gibbs went to turn off the water it was freezing.

With no time to waste he lifted Tony up and carried him out of the shower and wrapped him in a towel and rubbed him down to try to warm him up.

“What happened? You know I would have helped you.”

“The knobs went funny and I didn’t want you to keep helping me.”

“Well, I thought we’d talked about that but for now I think you need to go to bed to get warmed up.”

So Gibbs put Tony to bed, stripped off and cuddled Tony until he started to feel warmer and then they both fell asleep.

**Tony’s Illness******

It had started with a slight sniffle and cough. Ducky had said there was nothing to worry about because Tony was a bit run down probably because of the stress of the interview. Then Gibbs had woken to the sound of Tony struggling for breath. They had oxygen in the house but Tony was fighting it and the EMT’s had had to sedate him before they took him to Bethesda.

When they got there Brad had taken Gibbs to one side and told him not to worry, they’d caught it in time. Gibbs hadn’t believed him as he watched the man he loved more than life struggle to breathe, moving his body from side to side in the restlessness of delirium. He was even more hypersensitive to touch and had flinched each time Gibbs had tried to move his sweaty hair from his forehead so he was reduced to making very small circles on the hand that didn’t have the drip in it. 

Then Tony had started to try to move his hands and Gibbs realised that as he couldn’t talk he was signing “don’t want” and “home.”

“I know love, you hate being in hospital but it’s the best place you can be for now. I can’t take you home yet.”

He’d nearly lost the man a few months ago so was this it? He was going to lose the love of his life because of those vicious nobodies.

“Jethro, listen to me.” Brad’s voice finally penetrated his desperate thoughts.

“I know it looks very bad at the moment but Tony is slowly getting better. His fever is coming down and you can see he’s starting to listen to you.”

Gibbs looked down and realised that Tony’s eyes were beginning to focus on him.

It was another two weeks before the doctors said that he was well enough to be discharged from hospital. He was still very weak and in even more need of help than immediately after he had been shot but knowing how upset Tony was at staying in hospital they’d decided it was better for his state of mind to let him go home. There he would get the extra care and reassurance that Gibbs could give him.

Jethro wasn’t so sure. He wasn’t convinced that Tony would accept his help. When Tony had been so ill in hospital he had accepted it but he had been so out of it at times that it wasn’t clear whether he had known who was helping him.

Gibbs settled him out of the wheelchair into the car and Tony fell asleep. He still looked pale and ill.

“Come on love, it’s time to wake up.”

Tony struggled awake.

“Where?”

“We’re home sweetheart. Let’s get you in the house and then you can go to bed.”

“’Kay.”

“So give me a hug.”

Tony reached up and put his arms round his husband’s neck and Gibbs pulled him up and put him in the wheelchair.

Tony was silent. He was obviously wiped out by the journey so Gibbs lifted him to go up the stairs although Tony was nearly a dead weight.

“Right, honey let’s get you settled.”

Gibbs leant over to give him a goodnight kiss and then Tony put out his arms.

“Hug.”

“Sure thing sweetheart. I love you so much.”

And then Tony’s arms dropped to his sides as he fell into the sudden sleep of the convalescent. It was a mark of his exhaustion that he didn’t have a nightmare that night.

The next morning Gibbs woke from a doze to see he was being watched by a pair of anxious green eyes.

“Jethro, where?”

“You’re home my love. You’re safe with me and you’re going to get better.”

Then Tony leaned forward and kissed Jethro hesitantly.

“I love you.”

“Sure and I love you sweetheart” and Gibbs hugged him. It seemed that now Tony needed more and more physical contact and Gibbs was certainly on board with that.

“Let’s have something to eat. What’cha want?”

“Yoghurt.”

Tony’s appetite was still very small but the doctors had agreed that he would eat what he could supplemented by nutrition drinks rather than put him under extra stress by trying to get him to eat more.

“Right, let’s get you showered and shaved.”

This time Tony leaned into Gibbs as he got Tony to sit on the shower chair and then showered him.

After the shower, Gibbs helped Tony down the stairs with difficulty as Tony could barely stand upright.

After Gibbs had made sure Tony was sitting safely in a kitchen chair he helped him to eat his yoghurt as his hands were still very shaky. Then he handed him a nutrition drink in a sippy cup.

Gibbs looked at his husband who was already starting to look slightly less pale.

“Jethro, can I stay here?”

“Of course, this is your home, our home. We live here together.”

“Oh.”

Worried that Tony seemed to have forgotten even this, Gibbs was about to phone Tony’s neurologist for advice until Tony said,“But you sent me away last time I was ill.”

“But that was different. You’ll be going to Bethesda again soon but I’ll be coming with you each time. We’ve got some exercises for you to do at home.”

“Not brain boot camp?”

“No, not this time honey.”

Tony visibly relaxed against the chair and even managed a tiny smile.

“So you have a rest for a while on the couch and then we’ll do some of the exercises so you’ll be able to use a walker soon.”

“Don’t like the walker.”

“I know but after that you’ll be able to start to learn to walk without it.”

So Gibbs helped Tony through one set of exercises, encouraging him all the time but worried that Tony wasn’t fit enough to even try them.

“I want to do more.”

Tony was shaking slightly and had started to sweat with the effort even though the exercises were gentle and were designed to take ten minutes per set and Tony was only supposed to do one set a day for the next few days.

It had been a struggle as Tony had kept insisting on trying to “do one more Jethro” and Gibbs had had to make sure he didn’t wear himself out. Slowly over the next few weeks Tony had become fit enough use a walker and then the hospital had said that he could to start going to Bethesda to do the further exercises to help him walk unaided.

**Bethesda Physical Therapy Department**

Because of Tony’s tendency to overdo it, when they went to Bethesda Gibbs would hardly leave Tony’s side although the medical staff had objected so Gibbs had let out his second b.

As Tony struggled along the parallel bars, Gibbs took one of his hands and said, “You don’t have to do this Tony, you’ve done enough for today.”

“B-but I need to …”

“Excuse me sir –. “

“Don’t call me sir,” almost snarled Gibbs.

“Alright, Gibbs, will you please let me manage Tony’s schedule?”

“But that’s exactly what you’re not doing. Can’t you see that he’s tired?”

“Of course and that’s why I’ve scheduled a two hour break and a meal after this set so Tony can have time to relax with his friends.”

“But you can see he’s exhausted.”

“With respect, sir, we know his limits and we know that he tends to try to push himself too far because he’s that kind of guy. That’s why we’re monitoring him closely.”

“Come on Tony, you’re going.”

“But Jethro I have to do this. I want to walk and you’re being mean to Jim. He’s helping me.”

“He’s making you tired. You gotta stop now.”

“Not tired.”

“Jim, or whatever your name is, Tony’s finishing now. He’s exhausted.”

“Come on. With me” and Gibbs virtually dragged a still-protesting Tony out the door.

“I swear I’ll kill that man. He’s a real piece of work. Now I understand what the second b stands for. I’ve had enough. I’m reporting him for bullying and harassment.”

The disagreement continued in the car.

“Jethro, it’s not-not right. I’m trying.”

“Yes, I know but they’re making you work too hard.”

“But I want to walk better.”

“You will, but it’s going to take a bit longer. Can’t have you tiring yourself out.”

Tony went silent. Gibbs thought he’d gone to sleep but when he looked he saw Tony was muttering under his breath. He knew he had fences to mend with Tony over this.

After their meal Gibbs tried again.

“Sweetheart, you know I love you.”

“Love you too.”

“At the hospital they’re not cutting you enough slack.”

“What?”

“They’re not giving you enough rest.”

“Don’t mind. Want to walk” and Tony stuck out his lower lip in a pout which Jethro found so adorable he couldn’t resist kissing him and Tony responded with gusto. As a result they had a very early and satisfying night.

**The Physical Therapy Team Case Conference**

“Now the last patient up for discussion today is former Senior Field Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Tony.”

Someone murmured “sweetheart” under her breath but not quietly enough and the whole room smiled.

“Yes, Sue, I know the nickname you’ve all given him but just don’t let former Supervisory Special Agent Gibbs hear it. I know that Tony’s a sweetheart and normally tries really hard but –.”

“Yes ma’am,” John the senior physical therapist broke in, “Sorry to interrupt but we all know the problem. Tony normally does try really hard and we’ve sometimes even had to stop him because he pushes himself too much but Mr Gibbs will keep trying to ‘help’ him.”

The room dissolved into a series of heartfelt comments around Gibbs’ behaviour which they said ranged from rudeness to downright bullying. The team knew that it was coming from Gibbs’ obvious concern for Tony but they were there to do a job which his behaviour was preventing.

“Yes,” one voice managed to make itself heard above the rest. “He wants to decide when Tony’s too tired to continue a set of exercises and keeps distracting him and overriding us. We all know Tony has problems with his concentration and when Gibbs starts talking to him it interrupts his exercises and because Tony’s trying to do two things at once he gets upset as well. Basically, we can’t do our job and anyway, unlike some of our patients, he _is _a sweetheart and he deserves a break.”

“Thank you, Brian. I see you are speaking for all the team. I’ve looked at Tony’s records and can see that after two months he has not made the progress that we would expect despite his and our efforts. You all seem to be convinced it’s because of Mr Gibbs’ behaviour. Added to which, as Team Leader, I am not willing to countenance any one of my staff being bullied or prevented from doing their job. We all have Tony’s interests at heart so I have booked an appointment with Mr Gibbs for 1500 hours this afternoon in the hope that we can resolve the issue.”

“What’s going on? Is there something wrong?”

“Please sit down Mr Gibbs.”

“Call me Gibbs. I’ll stand. What’s wrong? Is Tony alright?”

“I apologise for having worried you unnecessarily. Tony’s fine. That is to say he will be better if we can sort out a problem we have. He’s not making the progress we’d expect.”

“Not surprised. Your team is exhausting him and I’m having to protect him from that. I’m putting in a formal complaint.”

“Actually, my team reports it as the other way round. Because of you, Tony gets exhausted trying to concentrate on what you’re saying to him and what his P/T is saying to him. It upsets him, not to mention that you keep having run-ins with my team, who incidentally have reported your bullying tactics to me. Are they the sort of tactics you used at MCRT? If so, I’m amazed that your team had such a high success rate. If you refuse to co-operate with us I will have you banned from the Physical Therapy area while Tony is having his sessions.”

“You can’t do that. I’m his husband.”

“I think you’ll find I can.”

Gibbs stood even straighter than normal trying to keep a lid on the explosion he could feel building.

“Look, Gibbs, I know you’re very concerned for Tony but your behaviour is unacceptable. My team also wants what’s best for Tony and they are the experts in their field. They want to support you but can’t unless you work with them rather than against them. I will not stand for my team being bullied but am prepared to deal with the complaints informally _if _and I stress the _if_, you are prepared to do as we ask.”

“Which is what?”

“Leave Tony alone when he is doing his exercises. You’ll be very welcome to observe him and of course raise any concerns privately with me but not with individual physical therapists. I understand that earlier this year you helped Tony with his exercises at home and we would be very willing to train you in some more that he can do at home. How does that sound?”

Gibbs looked at the beautiful, red-haired woman and realised that probably for the first time in his adult life he’d met his match. Anyway this was all about Tony and he couldn’t let his ego get in the way of Tony’s progress.

“Fine, but you gotta let me talk to him after each session before he goes for his break.”

“Sure” and she smiled and shook hands with him. Had he just been dismissed? Looked like it to him so he turned on his heel and went out.

“Jet -Jethro. Are you alright?” Trust Tony to have picked up on his frame of mind.

“Just a little thing that needed sorting out. Don’t worry. Let’s go home eh? We’ll order in pizza with your favourite topping. Remind me what that is.”

“Pepperoni and sausage with extra cheese, yes please”, Tony nearly shouted out with pleasure.

**Ducky’s Talk**

Things had been kind of tricky between Jethro and him since Ducky had suggested that Tony might be better off in a group home. As far as Gibbs was concerned hell would have frozen over before that was going to happen and he had not understand why Ducky had even suggested that.

To be fair once Ducky had realised that he had done his level best to smooth things over and to get involved in Tony’s rehab.

“Jethro, I need to speak to you.”

“Yes, what about?”

“I think it would be best if you got Abby to sit with Anthony and came over to me.”

“Sounds ominous.”

“No, not really. It concerns Anthony but I need to run it past you first.”

“Right, I’m not going to like this am I?”

“That’s up to you but rest assured I always have Anthony’s best interests at heart.”

“Sure hope so, Duck.”

So, several days later, leaving Tony happily talking to Abby, Gibbs had left to meet Ducky.

Ducky ushered in a stone-faced Gibbs.

“Tea?”

Gibbs directed a full force glare toward Ducky who hastily changed the offer to coffee.

Once settled, Gibbs said, “What’s this about?”

“Well, as I said, I only have Anthony’s best interests at heart and…”

“Come on Dicky, get on with it.”

“Well, I think you’ve done amazingly well with young Anthony and the challenges that his condition has presented you both with.”

“I love him Duck,” Gibbs said gruffly.

“Well I think that’s part of the problem.”

“What the hell do you mean?”

“Hold on, give me a chance to explain. I know you love Anthony and he loves you but to put it bluntly I think you’re being overprotective.”

“Have the doctors been talking to you?” Gibbs still felt angry about the run-in he’d had with the hospital staff about his behaviour.

“What about?”

“Never mind. What do you mean? You’ve changed your tune. You’re the one who wanted to put him in a group home – treat him like something disposable.”

“Oh come on Jethro, I did nothing of the sort. I had and still have his best interests at heart and at the time I thought that might have been a way forward. You’ve done so well with the way you’ve been looking after Anthony, giving him security, care and a set routine as well as helping him with his physical therapy. But you’re older than him and you are his main caregiver. You can’t keep on like this, caring for him virtually 24/7 for months on end. You’ll make yourself ill.”

“Anthony needs more people in his life. If you go before him he’d be absolutely devastated. Would you want to him to die because he had no one else to live for? Please for the sake of our friendship take this in the spirit in which it is meant.”

Gibbs’ look would have turned a lesser man to stone and then he stalked out slamming the door as he went.

He had to stand by the car for five minutes before he felt calm enough to drive. These days for Tony’s sake he was a lot more careful in the way he drove. He couldn’t go straight back home and face Tony and Abbs given the state he was still in.

Tony remained super sensitive to Jethro’s moods and would soon pick up on how angry he was and Abbs was no slouch at reading body language. Her eyes would narrow and her lips purse and then she would try to interrogate him forgetting how confusing and possibly upsetting that might be for Tony to listen to.

When he finally got home it was to see the two friends cuddled together asleep on the couch with Tony’s new movie still playing. Looking down on them he couldn’t resist a smile.

He went down to the basement and poured himself a stiff bourbon. Thinking about Ducky’s words and the words of the physical therapy team leader made him furious again. He’d moved heaven and earth to give Tony back a life, he’d given up a job that had been his life to care for his husband. He’d spent a fortune on getting Tony the best care but according to Ducky that still wasn’t enough.

The mason jar full of bourbon hit the wall and shattered on the floor.

But his job wasn’t his life was it? Tony was his life which was all very well for him but Gibbs, for Tony’s sake couldn’t be all Tony’s life. Did he want to leave Tony with the support of only a few busy people? He knew the team would do their best but they had demanding jobs with unpredictable hours and their own lives to lead.

As Tony’s main caregiver he’d been offered the services of Dr Kate’s Sister for psychological support but there was no way he’d countenance going to a shrink but he was so tired. Tony still wasn’t sleeping well and then during the day he’d sometimes have episodes of extreme anxiety when he still thought he might be sent away during which Gibbs would have to stay by him trying to calm him down.

Jethro hadn’t really allowed himself to think much about his situation. Essentially he was on duty or on call for most of the time. No one could do that for any length of time without buckling under the strain – even him. There was no way he’d put Tony in a group home but if he became ill that would be the only option.

Since when had love seemed to become duty? Semper fi was all very well but that was from his marine days when duty was all. Looking after Tony was not a matter of duty surely but of love. But when he was a marine he’d had periods of down time and now he hardly had any. The team had done their best and when they came round he could relax but those times were relatively few and far between because of their workload and the unpredictability of their hours.

He had to at least try to provide a wider network with more people to help Tony day to day. At that Gibbs realised that he had to be unselfish and relinquish some control over Tony’s life for both their sakes’. Hard though it was to accept, Ducky had been right.

So he used his basement time to sort out a strategy.

**The Move**

“Let’s sit down.”

“Can we snuggle?”

“Of course we can.”

So they’d snuggled together on the couch while Jethro had tried to talk about the move he thought they ought to make.

“Tony, what do you think about moving house? We could have a pool and a gym.” He didn’t mention his plans to have the master bedroom downstairs so it would be easier for Tony or for the grounds to include a self-contained cottage for the two caregivers he planned to employ.

“You’re sending me away again?” his voice becoming more and more distressed.

“No, oh no. I’ll never be without you again if I can help it. We’d be moving to a different house, together. You know I can’t live without you.”

The tears flowed. Tony couldn’t afford to cry right out and noisily like most people. It interfered with his breathing too much but it still cut Gibbs to the quick that he’d caused this reaction.

“But I like this house, it’s home and another house wouldn’t be. And – what about Shannon and Kelly?”

This floored Gibbs. “What do you mean?”

“Memories.” Tony’s voice faded away.

This man never ceased to amaze him. Limited though he now was, he had more thoughtfulness and kindness in his little finger than most people had in their whole bodies.

Tony had always understood Gibbs’ relationship to his dead wife and only child. He’d never been jealous of those memories unlike Gibbs’ ex-wives. He’d encouraged Gibbs to talk about his memories but never pushed him to and had understood when Gibbs just wanted to think about them alone in the basement.

Gibbs looked at his lover with great affection.

“Tony, you know you’re something else.”

“I’m not something else, I’m me.”

Gibbs sighed internally. He still sometimes forgot that Tony nowadays tended to take most statements literally. His brain injury had taken away much of his ability to understand figurative language.

“I meant, you’re wonderful. I’ll still have those memories even though we won’t be in this house. I carry my memories of Shannon and Kelly with me. We can make new memories in another house and make it our home. He coaxed, “You’d like your own pool wouldn’t you? And a gym so you wouldn’t have to go to Bethesda so often for your physical therapy.”

“But I like talking to Bob and John and Sam there.”

Gibbs had forgotten what a social butterfly Tony still was. Although his opportunities to meet people were restricted he’d still managed to make a lot of friends at the hospital and Gibbs couldn’t deny him that.

“Right. I get that. But we can still have the gym anyway. You could even have them round.”

Tony’s eyes lit up at that.

And the clincher was “We’ll have more bedrooms so Ducky, Abby and Tim and Jimmy can all stay over at once.”

Tony’s tears stopped. He sniffed and wiped them away.

“And we could watch Magnum together and eat popcorn and stay up really late and…”

“Yes, that too.”

“When do we move?” Gibbs smiled at this.

“We-ell, I’ve been looking and there are a couple of houses I like but if you don’t then we’ll start looking again.”

Tony’s eyes sparkled, his former sadness forgotten. He hadn’t lost his enthusiasm for life. 

Gibbs thought back to all the things which Tony had lost. He no longer had a job, a job which he had excelled at and which he had enjoyed. Hell, he wouldn’t be able to hold down any kind of job now because of his memory problems and inability to learn and retain new processes. He had lost his independence: he wasn’t allowed to drive and although he could be left by himself now he couldn’t be left for more than a day and anyway Gibbs didn’t want to leave him at night because Tony didn’t like sleeping by himself.

He couldn’t even watch movies as much as he had. His ability to concentrate was diminished and he often ended up sleeping through them. But despite all that Tony enjoyed his life and one of his most frequent phrases was “I like this.”

So they started to look at houses and Gibbs and McGee made enquiries to try to make sure that the neighbourhoods they were interested in would be accepting of someone with Tony’s condition. Eventually they found a house they both liked with all the facilities they needed and in a friendly neighbourhood.

It had been a challenge to pack up the memories of so many years but it still felt right.

After all Tony was alive and Shannon and Kelly were dead. His duty and love were for the living. Anything that would make Tony’s life easier and help Gibbs to continue to care for him was fine by him.

Once they had a moving date Gibbs had a difficult conversation with Tony knowing that the move would be disruptive and probably overwhelming for Tony but not wishing to make him feel unwanted.

“And I can help you then.”

“Yes you can help me pack up but on moving day wouldn’t you rather go to Ducky’s and he can take you out and the house will be ready for when you get back. I’ll have a big surprise for you when you get back.”

“Don’t you want me to help you?”

“Sure, you can help me pack but on the day you know it’s going to disturb a lot of dust and we can’t risk it with your lungs”.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Come here, no need to say sorry. I just don’t want you to get sick again. So how about it?”

“Alright.”

Once the move was completed Gibbs stood back to watch his husband’s reaction. Tony was thrilled to see all his things on the shelves and the TV taking pride of place in the large main room and then he saw Jethro’s surprise, the grand piano, now out of storage.

Tony immediately went to it, lifted the lid and checking that it was in tune, he started to play, lost in the music. As Gibbs heard the liquid notes fill the room Gibbs thanked God that there was at least one thing that had not been taken away from his husband.

Once they had been settled for a while and had established a new routine Gibbs started to build up a network of support so that Tony would get used to seeing people other than his friends in the hospital and in the team.

Jethro had started by holding a series of small house-warming parties for the immediate neighbours. Despite McGee’s background checks he knew there was still a possibility that some of the neighbours might look askance at both their relationship and Tony’s condition. 

All their immediate neighbours were very accepting and Tony was his usual sociable self and liked talking to Tom and Sandra, Jane, the people in the Red House (for some reason he could never remember their names but they didn’t mind), Michael and Emma, George and Esperanza. 

When Gibbs went out leaving Tony for a few hours one of their wonderful neighbours normally tried to visit. What had started as neighbours just doing a neighbourly turn to someone less fortunate than themselves had ended up with them enjoying the company of this friendly and sympathetic man. 

“I see you have a piano. Who plays, you or Gibbs?” 

“Well.”

Gibbs broke in, “Tony’s too modest to say. He’s the one who plays. He’s great. He sings too. Why don’t you play something for them Tony?” 

So it had become a regular feature for Tony to play or sing when neighbours came round much to everyone’s enjoyment. Here was something that Tony could do for others. It started to help him believe that he still had something to offer. 

“I want to go to the store.” 

“Sure, what do you want to buy?” 

“Some candy and cookies.” 

“We can go to the store in the next block.” 

Gibbs knew the storekeeper there. He’d be patient and friendly. Tony would have enough knockbacks with people who wouldn’t know how to treat someone with his difficulties that he deserved an easy ride this time. 

“How much do you want?” 

“Twenty?” 

“Of course. There you are. Put it in your billfold.” Gibbs hated feeling he was like a father doling out an allowance but at least Tony was OK with handling money. 

So they’d walked to the store, Gibbs adjusting his quick stride to Tony’s slow careful tread, no longer his effortless graceful walk. Gibbs reminded himself to be grateful that at least Tony could walk. He knew Tony was grateful.

Gibbs chatted to Joe, the storekeeper, while keeping an eye on Tony as he slowly made his way round the store exclaiming at various things on the shelves and slowly reading labels to himself.

Then Tony came up to the counter with his purchases, a pizza with Hawaiian topping, some white chocolate chip cookies and Oreos. 

“Hi, Jethro, look what I got.” 

“But Tony you don’t like that topping or those cookies.” 

“I know. They’re for you of course.” 

“Thank you, sweetheart, don’t you want to get something for yourself?” 

“No, you’ve given me a lot and I want to give you something back.”

Joe went to serve Tony who completed his transaction slowly and carefully. 

Once they were in the car Tony said, “I can’t give you much and I can’t do much.” 

“Honey, you don’t need to. Anyway you give me plenty. Remember this morning?” 

They looked at each other, Tony’s eyes were full of love and Gibbs knew again that his Tony was still there, the man he had fallen in love with.

**Tony’s Birthday**

Tony had always celebrated his birthday with great enjoyment and made sure his friends were swept up in his celebrations but he had been too ill to celebrate his last one.

Now Tony was well enough to celebrate this birthday. Nowadays being among crowds and noise was somewhat overwhelming for him so there would be no big party but Gibbs was determined that this year they’d celebrate it properly. For some reason Tony didn’t seem so interested in what presents he’d be getting although Gibbs had already bought him a shirt that matched his eyes and a pair of Armani jeans that would cling to him in the right places.

Tony had been keyed up for the last month, wondering aloud what they were going to do on the day. “Can I have pancakes and syrup and hot chocolate with marshmallows for breakfast?”

“Sure you can.”

”And can we go see a movie?”

”Sure we can but we’ll go when it isn’t too crowded eh? What else would you like?”

“We could invite Abby and Ducky and Tim and Jimmy to watch a movie.”

“Sure, but they can’t come on your birthday. It’s a school night.”

Seeing Tony’s confused look, Gibbs hastily said, “They wouldn’t be able to stay late. They’ll be working the next day.”

Looking at the disappointment on Tony’s face, Gibbs quickly said,

“But I’m sure some of the neighbours will come round. They might even bring a cake!”

Tony’s face immediately brightened.

”Swell.”

Gibbs didn’t tell him he’d already invited them. He’d also asked Jane to make one of her chocolate cakes which Tony loved.

”Is that too much?”

”No, sweetheart. I think we can do that,” Gibbs said thinking, “I’d give you the moon and the stars and your old life back in a twinkling.”

So the big day dawned. Gibbs gave Tony his present of a Zegna shirt and Armani jeans and his favourite shampoo and cologne over their breakfast. Once that was finished they moved to the sitting-room and Tony glanced through the window.

”Jethro, Jethro can you see?,” pointing wildly at the red Ferrari in the street.

“I don’t know anyone who would have that. Do you think they’d let me ride in it?”

Gibbs saw him counting off their neighbours on his fingers until Gibbs took pity on him.

”Come here” and Gibbs took him in his arms and whispered, “Happy birthday, my love” and then released him and took him to the car.

For once, Tony was struck dumb: he still talked nineteen to the dozen when he was excited and he got excited a lot.

”Wha – wha.”

“Come on, we’re going for a spin.”

”Can I drive?”

“No my love, but it’s the next best thing. We’ve got it for the day.”

Tony’s face fell. He still remembered his big ambition, to drive a red Ferrari. 

So they got their stuff together and started off for the ocean, Tony talking all the time and exclaiming how great it was being in the car of his dreams. He commented on the lovely seats with the smell of leather, the red trim, why wasn’t Jethro taking it to top speed and what a shame it was that the team couldn’t see him.

Gibbs would wait for a while until Tony could have the next part of his birthday present. Gibbs had arranged with a friend who lived nearby and who had a mansion with large grounds to let them drive the Ferrari round the private roads there. This time though, Tony would get his wish and would be driving the Ferrari even though it would only be for a short while.

”Right Tony, let’s get out the car.”

”But we’re not there yet.”

“No, but how would you like to get in the driver’s seat for a while and drive this baby?”

Tony became speechless.

Gibbs took him gently by the hand and they changed seats. Gibbs knew he was taking a gamble that Tony’s muscle memory would kick in and he would be able to drive the car. But Tony had been a superb driver before his shooting and luckily this skill remained without the distractions of other traffic or intersections so Gibbs let him drive round the private roads for half an hour before suggesting to Tony that they change places.

Tony was so thrilled to have driven the car of his dreams for even a short time that he willingly moved over.

“Thank you, thank you, Jethro”, and he started to kiss Jethro passionately, sliding his hands under Jethro’s shirt.

”Hey, Tony, let’s wait until we go to the ocean eh? Remember we can go skinny dipping.”

”And other stuff?”

“Oh I should think we can do that as well” and he grinned.

They spent a very satisfying time at the private beach skinny dipping among other activities that also involved getting naked.

As Gibbs drove them home, he was thinking about the next phase in their lives. It was going to need a lot of careful discussions with Tony about employing a couple to help look after him and finding an acceptable way of putting that to him. Perhaps Karen could recommend some people. She’d become a very good friend to them and he trusted her judgement.

He put that to one side. Live in the moment was Tony’s way now and he was trying to do more of that for his sake.

Then he looked at his husband’s face shining with happiness and contentment and reminded himself that although this wasn’t the life they’d planned it was still a damn good one.


End file.
